Das Sauerkraut

Last year Ross tried making sauerkraut with the cabbage from the garden.  He used our pickling crock, weighed the cabbage down with a plate, and then covered the top with some plastic wrap.  There was a lot of growth on the surface that he had to keep skimming off.  In the end he wasn't happy and began looking online for other crocks.  He ended up settling on a Polish fermentation crock that I got for him as a gift.  This crock has a water trough seal that is supposed to do away with the need for skimming the top.

So here we are a year later and Ross picked some cabbage from the garden that needs processed.  I was not quite sure how cabbage gets to kraut so I was quite interested in finding out.  I didn't realize that this was going to be a hand's on lesson.  Come to find out it's quite easy.  You shred cabbage, place a layer in the crock with a bit of salt, and then mash it to get it to release its natural moisture.  I was amazed at how much water came out.  Once you finish mashing the cabbage-and in the process giving your hand the wonderful scent of eau de ca'bauge-you place a weight on top (our crock came with its own stoneware weights) and let mother nature do its job.  In four to six weeks, and minimal upkeep, we should have some sauerkraut.  Now I just need to talk Ross into making his homemade German potato salad and applesauce again.   Add to that some knockwurst cooked in the kraut and we will have ourselves a really great Autumn supper.  My mouth is watering at just the thought!